Chapter 425: Haruno Sakura
Upon hearing this, a thought stirred in Fugaku Uchiha's mind. Plunder the enemy's pupil power?
As an Uchiha who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, he naturally knew its drawback. The pupil power of the Mangekyō was limited. It diminished with every use and was difficult to recover. In the end, when the pupil power was exhausted, the user would face blindness.
However, if one could seize pupil power, did that not mean that the Mangekyō Sharingan had the possibility of never going blind?
Thinking deeper...
Fugaku's heart trembled!
He said to Izumi, "Follow me."
Then, he took her to the Naka Shrine.
Before awakening her Mangekyō, Izumi's Sharingan had not reached three tomoe, so she had never been to the shrine. But after awakening it, she had already been here many times. The Uchiha clan had held no small number of meetings during this period. At every meeting, she was surrounded by numerous clansmen and seated at the very front, her position second only to Fugaku's.
He did not stop in the main hall but led her directly into the shrine's basement, to the front of the stone tablet.
"Activate your Sharingan and look at it once, then activate your Mangekyō and look at it again," he said.
With curiosity, Izumi did as he said.
After reading it, she couldn't help but exclaim, "Using the Mangekyō too much will lead to blindness? And above the Mangekyō, there's an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?"
She had just obtained the Mangekyō and thought she had mastered the supreme power of the Uchiha clan. She hadn't expected to receive such dire news immediately. Her mentality almost collapsed.
Fugaku nodded. "That's right. After awakening the Mangekyō, if you don't have the Mangekyō of a close relative to fuse with, then the end will inevitably be blindness."
"Back then, our ancestor Madara Uchiha must have fused with his younger brother Izuna Uchiha's Mangekyō."
"That is why he was able to fight with Hashirama Senju so many times yet always maintain his peak combat power."
"You and I are the same. We do not have a close relative who has awakened the Mangekyō. So, under normal circumstances, our Mangekyō will inevitably lead to blindness."
"But, since your pupil technique is to absorb pupil power, then perhaps you have a hope of keeping your Mangekyō forever bright."
Izumi nodded mechanically. Having received so much information at once, she was still unable to fully process it.
Fugaku said, "Alright, let's go back. In any case, you must be prudent when using the Mangekyō."
"Yes," she replied.
While Fugaku was personally teaching Izumi, the Konoha high command was also adjusting its deployments.
These days, Tsunade had reduced the number of ninja sent out on missions. She had increased the number of ninja performing missions within and near the village, such as patrol ninja and guards for important locations. The numbers for these types of ninja had all been increased.
This was naturally to deal with the Uchiha clan.
It wasn't that she was worried the Uchiha would launch a surprise attack on these places, but that if the Uchiha were to rebel at some point, the village could gather enough manpower in time.
In fact, Ishiro could understand why the Danzō and Hiruzen of the original story had insisted on annihilating the Uchiha. Simply to guard against their rebellion, Konoha was tied down with a great deal of energy. This had seriously affected the village's development, so cleaning up the Uchiha was a wise move of choosing short-term pain over long-term suffering.
Besides Tsunade, the Hokage, increasing the number of ninja performing internal missions, Danzō's Root was also recruiting new members.
Root had suffered heavy losses this time, but it was also the only organization in Konoha that had already torn off all pretenses with the Uchiha. The next time the Uchiha caused any trouble, it would still be Root that would have to charge into the fray.
So, although Tsunade was very reluctant to replenish Root's manpower, she had no choice but to do so against her will.
This put her in a very bad mood. She felt that the longer she sat in the position of Hokage, the more she became like her teacher, Hiruzen.
Gritting her teeth, she finally signed the expansion plan that Danzō had given her.
After this document took effect, for the next few years, Root would have the first pick of the new graduates from the Ninja Academy.
Fugaku's son, Itachi Uchiha, was very close to Shisui and was often brainwashed by the Third with the Will of Fire. Itachi, who was more inclined towards the village than his clan, already had the strength of a chunin. He would also be joining Root, taking over Shisui's previous position.
After signing, Tsunade called for Kakashi. "Take this to Advisor Danzō. After you're done, go back and get some good rest."
Kakashi nodded in agreement, then took the document and left.
Watching his departing figure, Tsunade's mood became even more irritable.
She had discovered that since the last chaos in Konoha, Kakashi's state had been a bit off. He was now a top-tier combatant who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. Tsunade was very concerned about the change in his mentality. The village could not afford to have a Kage-level shinobi who was close to the high command change his stance.
However, she didn't know how to talk to him.
Kakashi's expression seemed to say: Don't talk to me. I won't say anything.
After delivering the document to Danzō, Kakashi did not go home but, without realizing it, came to the Memorial Stone area again.
Standing before Obito's monument, he murmured to himself, "Obito, was that person you?"
"If it was you, why did you do it? Why not acknowledge me?"
He stood in a daze before Obito's monument for a long time, then went to Rin Nohara's.
Gently stroking her gravestone, he wanted to ask if she had seen Obito in the Pure Land. But after steeling himself for a long time, he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth.
In the end, he did not speak his suspicions before her grave. Even though she was already in the Pure Land, he still couldn't bear to disturb her and make her sad.
When he left the Memorial Stone again, his entire demeanor had become even more downcast.
However, the dejected Kakashi was not self-destructive as he had been when he had killed Rin with his own hands. On the contrary, ever since the Konoha chaos, his training had been extremely arduous. He pushed himself beyond his limits every day. Looking at all of Konoha, only Might Guy could definitively outdo him.
He was pushing himself so hard, on the one hand, to punish his useless self. On the other hand, it was to improve his own strength, so that he could find Obito and ask him properly, why did he do it?
...
Iwagakure.
Ishiro finished a day's training and, upon returning to the vicinity of his home, knocked on the door of a household.
On one side of his house lived Han. On the other side was the family of three that he had just recently settled in. This was the house he was knocking on now.
Inside lived a young couple and their daughter.
That little girl was none other than Haruno Sakura.
The current Sakura was only a little over three years old, with a head of pink hair, and was a bit shy.
She was relatively unfamiliar with Ishiro, but she was very familiar with the two little Tailed Beasts by his side.
Sakura, who had been peeking out from behind her parents, immediately ran out upon seeing Little Saiken and Little Chōmei. She went up and hugged Little Saiken, rubbing her face against its body with all her might.
In these days in Iwagakure, she had already become very good friends with the two little Tailed Beasts. The one human and two beasts were almost inseparable, sticking together every day.
Ishiro had Little Saiken take Sakura outside to play, then said to the anxious young couple, "You two don't need to be afraid."
"I believe you have some understanding of my identity by now. I am the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure."
"I took a liking to your daughter Sakura's talent for training, so I took the opportunity during the chaos in Konoha to bring you to Iwagakure."
"Here, you can live a normal life just as you did in Konoha."
"During this time, you should have gained some understanding of Iwagakure. In the future, I can introduce you to jobs, and I will not interfere with your daily lives."
"I imagine you originally hoped for Sakura to become a ninja. Our Iwagakure can also train her."
"She is still young and doesn't understand the difference between Konoha and Iwagakure. We will not treat her differently."
"As long as she lives and studies well here, she will not have any psychological burden in becoming an Iwa-nin in the future."
"I hope you will treat Iwagakure as your own home and give Sakura a normal environment to grow up in."
Sakura's father hesitated for a moment. "Lord Tsuchikage, can our little Sakura become your disciple?"
Ishiro smiled faintly. "If you don't object, then I will take her as my disciple. However, during her time at the Ninja Academy, please do not publicize this."
"Becoming famous too early is not good for her. Becoming my disciple might cause her to attract the jealousy of other students at the academy."
Sakura's father was overjoyed. "Thank you, Lord Tsuchikage! Rest assured, we will definitely keep it a secret!"
Although they were from Konoha, they also knew some things about Ishiro and the significance of a Kage to a village. And they had been in Iwagakure for a while now and had some understanding of his greatest ability. They knew that he was best at teaching disciples, and that those who were taken as his disciples would, after a few years, become at least Quasi-Jonin.
As ordinary civilians from Konoha, this young couple didn't understand where their daughter's talent lay to be valued by the Tsuchikage. But in any case, being taken as his disciple was a good thing. As for whether she became a ninja in Konoha or in Iwagakure, it made no difference to them.
Ishiro had originally planned to chat with Sakura herself after settling things with her parents. But seeing how happily she was playing with the two Tailed Beasts, he gave up the idea.
Sakura had both her parents, a happy family. She didn't have to think about the conflict between the main and branch families, nor did she need to worry about the conflict between her clan and the village. Her disposition was that of a very normal three-year-old child. If he were to talk to her about becoming a disciple, she probably wouldn't understand.
So, in the end, he gave up on the idea of chatting with the little kid.
Leaving Sakura's home, he let go of his wariness towards her parents.
(End of Chapter)
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